Foo Fighters play ‘biggest ever show’ at Wembley Stadium

Foo Fighters played their biggest ever show tonight (June 6), an 86,000 capacity gig at Wembley Stadium in London.

Performing “in the round”, the band took to their revolving stage which was placed near the centre of the pitch just before 8pm (BST).

As well as the unique platform, Foo Fighters had also installed a long runway that stretched out deep into the crowd, and even by second song ‘Times Like These’, frontman Dave Grohl was off jogging along his catwalk working the audience into a frenzy.

Barely pausing for breath in the opening salvo, the band rattled through the likes of ‘The Pretender’, ‘No Way Back’ and “new song” ‘Cheer Up Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)’.

Slowing the pace in the middle of ‘This Is A Call’, Grohl moved to a second, smaller stage almost at the other end of the stadium from his bandmates, slowly making his way back along the catwalk jamming out an extended bluesy solo before he reached his mic and finished the song.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Wembley fucking Stadium ladies and gentleman, I love each and everyone of you fucking arseholes tonight,” declared Grohl after the song.

“I used to think this place was big, it’s fucking massive. I love it,” he added. “We played it once before but we only we played five songs, we did that Live Earth. We went on after the Pussycat Dolls which is not an easy feat, I can tell you. We worked over time that night, but by the time we finished we thought we’d come back and play for longer. How long do you want us to play for you tell us!”

Sharethrough (Mobile)

During ‘Stacked Actors’ the Foo Fighters rotated their stage for the first time, with Taylor Hawkins playing a drum solo as he revolved around Wembley Stadium while his bandmates quickly dashed backstage.

After going around 360 degrees, all the other Foo Fighters returned to finished the song with another extended jam.

The band then completely changed the dynamic, rotating the stage to the left, they started a semi-acoustic set with ‘Skin And Bones’, which saw them joined by several additional musicians including a violinist and organ player.

Grohl-penned Nirvana B-side, and acoustic regular, ‘Marigold’ followed as this time the stage rotated again so they faced the opposite side of the stadium.

With ‘My Hero’ following, the band then enjoyed a bit of a break with the frontman pausing to tell the crowd: “What’s the first thing you think of when you say Wembley? Freddy Mercury! If you guys start a band and are lucky enough to do this just watch the Live Aid DVD.”

Grohl then got Hawkins to warm up his vocals ahead of ‘Cold Day In The Sun’ by getting the crowd to chant along with him ‘Wembley style”.

“You’ve got a good voice for a drummer,” noted Grohl. “So have you!” replied his bandmate in a snap causing laughter to break out across the giant venue ahead of the Hawkins-fronted ‘In Your Honour’ track.

Having wrapped the acoustic spot up, Grohl tore into ‘Everlong’ solo, playing and the song half way down the catwalk inspiring a massive sing-a-long.

With his bandmates returning, they finished the set with ‘All My Life’ with Grohl declaring “it’s the biggest Foo Fighters show ever, in 13 years and it’s all thanks to you lot!”

Returning for the encore, they kicked off with ‘Big Me’, this time with the stage facing the crowd at the back of the venue.

“You people paid a lot of money to stare at my arse all night,” observed Grohl. “I’m sure it was worth it, but how about we sing a song for you guys?”

“You guys thank you for being fantastic on our special night,” declared Grohl ahead of closer ‘Best Of You’. “This is something else, thanks for coming out.”

A teary Grohl then left the stage as fireworks blasted over the stadium.